The Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) and Policy Research At NIAAA

Public policies have the potential to prevent the adverse consequences of alcohol consumption on a larger scale than any other category of interventions. However, measuring the effects of specific policies on alcohol-related behaviors and health outcomes is difficult and presents a variety of daunting challenges. One important challenge stems from the nonexperimental nature of most policy research, which makes it difficult to distinguish between causal relationships and noncausal associations. Another key challenge arises from the complexity of alcohol-related behaviors and outcomes and the wide range of potential effects that specific policy interventions may have on different groups and actors in various contexts. A third important challenge involves the difficulty in accurately characterizing the policies to be studied, which can be attributed largely to the arcane legal framework of statutes and regulations in which policies are created. This challenge is magnified by the enormous variety of alcohol-related public policies that have been adopted at all levels of government and the myriad variations in specific provisions that are embedded in the laws and regulations. Valid analysis of policy effects depends on surmounting all of these challenges and accurately characterizing policies and discerning the true causal effects of those policies on well-specified outcomes of interest.

P ublic policies have the potential to prevent the adverse consequences of alcohol consumption on a larger scale than any other category of interven tions.However, measuring the effects of specific policies on alcoholrelated behaviors and health outcomes is difficult and presents a variety of daunting challenges.One important challenge stems from the nonexperi mental nature of most policy research, which makes it difficult to distinguish between causal relationships and noncausal associations.Another key challenge arises from the complexity of alcoholrelated behaviors and outcomes and the wide range of potential effects that specific policy interventions may have on different groups and actors in various contexts.A third important challenge involves the difficulty in accurately character izing the policies to be studied, which can be attributed largely to the arcane legal framework of statutes and regulations in which policies are created.This challenge is magnified by the enormous variety of alcoholrelated public policies that have been adopted at all levels of government and the myriad variations in specific provi sions that are embedded in the laws and regulations.Valid analysis of policy effects depends on surmounting all of these challenges and accurately characterizing policies and discerning the true causal effects of those policies on wellspecified outcomes of interest.
The The coverage period for most topics begins January 1, 1998, and extends through January 1, 2010, with an update to January 1, 2011, to be post ed in the coming months.For each policy topic, APIS provides detailed comparison tables showing both uptodate policy information and policy changes over time, with exact effective dates for changes that took effect during the coverage period.APIS also provides descriptive overviews, maps and charts, summaries of relevant Federal law, legal cita tions, and detailed explanatory notes, as well as State profiles of the various laws that address underage drinking in each State.
APIS was developed as a tool to support research on the effects and effectiveness of alcoholrelated public policies.Policy topics covered in APIS were chosen on the basis of several considerations, includ ing public health significance, the salience of the research area, and the feasibility of legal research on Statelevel statutes and regulations to discern valid and meaningful policy characteristics and differences, both across jurisdictions and over time.Policies established at local (i.e., county and municipal) levels of government and policies established by case law are outside the scope of APIS.As a result, policies that vary substantially in these dimensions (for instance, restrictions on the days and hours of legal sale, which varies at the local level, and dramshop liability, which is established in many States only through case law) are not covered within APIS.
NIAAA funds a variety of research projects on the effects of alcoholrelated public policies and encour ages new applications for research grants in this area.A recent set of funding opportunity announcements, titled "Research on AlcoholRelated Public Policies Such As Those Detailed in the Alcohol Policy Information System" for R01,R03,and R21 applications,respectively), describes a wide range of research pro jects that could be supported in this area.Information on applying for these and other research grants is available at http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Research Information/ExtramuralResearch/default.htm.■

Selected Publications Making Use of APIS Policy Information:
Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) (http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov) was created by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as a tool to facilitate research on the effects and effectiveness of alcoholrelated public policies by providing authoritative, detailed, and comparable information on alcoholrelated policies at the State and Federal levels in the United States.APIS data is based on primary legal research on the statutes and regulations through which policies are established.APIS provides detailed coverage for 35 specific policy topics organized in eight categories: GREGORY BLOSS, M.A., is an economist in the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, National Insititute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland.